Questionnaire-Sareh Saatian
Questionnaire Students are often very disappointed when the questionnaires or surveys they send out as part of their course have a very low response rate, and this may even affect the validity of their research. It is very important, therefore, that questionnaires be well prepared and well constructed in order to minimize non-response. Survey questionnaires are typically used for feedback research to determine the current status or "situation," or to estimate the distribution of characteristics in a population. Writing a survey questionnaire is one of the most critical stages in the survey development process. Five steps in writing a survey questionnaire First: Determine the objective Second: Decide the attributes to measure Third: Identify the audience Fourth: Choose measurement scales Fifth: Check reliability.' ' Tips for Writing Questionnaire Items: Structure: 1. Be brief: You should focus on "need to know" questions and minimize "nice to know" information. Brief questionnaires have higher response rates. 2. Start with non-threatening questions: Make the first question relevant to the title/purpose, and make it easy to answer. Avoid asking for identifying information in the beginning of the survey questionnaire. 3. Use plain language: Be direct and use simple language so that respondents can answer quicker and more accurately. 4. Include simple instructions: When necessary, include instructions about how to complete each section and how to mark the answers to ensure that the survey questionnaire is completed correctly. 5. Make sure it looks professional: Always proofread your questionnaire and assure that the survey design is appropriate to the topic. A professional survey creates a favorable image in the mind of the respondents about you. 6. Ask only one question at a time: Avoid "double-barreled" questions that confuse the respondent. Consider the confusion created by these examples: o Do you like cats and dogs? o Do you like tennis or do you like golfing? 7. Use open-ended questions only when the responses add value to the survey research. 8. Provide space to tell more: At the end of the survey questionnaire, give respondents an opportunity to comment about the survey or general topic using an open-ended question. 9. Put important questions first: Respondents may get fatigued or hurried by later questions. Include questions about demographic information at the end so the earlier parts of survey questionnaire focus on gathering data necessary to meet your survey objectives. 10. Avoid agreement bias: By framing both positive and negative questions, your respondents will evaluate each question rather than uniformly agreeing or disagreeing to all of the responses. 11. Avoid the response option "other": Careless responders will overlook the option they should have designated and conveniently mark the option "other." 12. Keep your survey questionnaire short: Limit the number of questions based on your target audience. For example you can ask more questions to customers as compared to web-site visitors. Wording ' Appropriate wording of questionnaire items is important in order to minimize bias in the questionnaire. '''Avoid jargon or technical terms unlikely to be familiar to your respondents ' 'Avoid ambiguous questions and answers ' 'Avoid ‘combination’ questions ' 'Avoid double negatives ' 'Do not use leading questions that imply the response that is wanted ' 'Avoid loaded questions that contain words which may bias the responses ' 'The way people are asked to show their response should be simple ' '''Include a ‘no opinion’ option when asking about people’s beliefs or attitudes Questionnaires must be carefully designed to yield valid information .Meticulous attention must be paid to ensure that individual questions are relevant, appropriate, intelligible, precise, and unbiased. The order of the questions must be carefully arranged, and the layout of the questionnaire must be clear. It is wise to draft a clear personalized covering letter. Questionnaires must first be piloted and evaluated before the actual survey. Reference: 1. Dornyei, Z. (2003). Questionnaires in second language research: construction, administration, '' ''and processing: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates'' '' 2.Bissett AF. Designing a questionnaire: Send a personal covering letter